With Peace Health Medical Group on the verge of moving to Springfield, Eugene city councilors agreed that persuading a hospital to locate in the city center is their top priority for the coming year.
That goal was one of eight that the Council made for the year 2004 in Feb. 20 and 21 priority-setting sessions.
By making a hospital site a priority, councilors will dedicate staff efforts to the project above all others.
“It is a very important development decision that is likely going to be made this year, so we’re going to have to put some focus on it if we want a hospital in the city center,” said Ward 3 Councilor David Kelly, who represents the University area.
The councilors’ decision echoes a resolution they made in September 2003 giving support to landing a hospital for central Eugene, within 2.25 miles of Second Avenue and Chambers Street, as well as south and west of the Willamette River.
A downtown hospital would not only provide convenient medical care, it would also be a major economic development project for the city that would likely bring new jobs and new taxes to the cash-poor city.
Though no specific plans for a new hospital are in place right now, Springfield’s McKenzie-Willamette Hospital will be the likely provider. The hospital is examining a site at the Eugene Water and Electric Board’s headquarters on East Fourth Avenue.
Kelly said councilors would support any site within the area defined in the resolution they adopted last year.
The city has set aside $500,000 to assist with a hospital project.
The City Council will also offer hospital developers incentives to build in the area, such as reducing any fees that might arise if streets need to be changed for the hospital or waiving staging fees for starting construction. They might also assign a staff person to help developers through the process of applying to and actually building within the city.
“There’s all kinds of things that we’re going to make available that we won’t necessarily do for sites outside that area,” Ward 4 City Councilor George Poling said.
Councilors also covered other issues at the two-day sessions. They discussed the possibilities of a civic center, giving more money to public safety, setting steps to carry out downtown development, giving more protection to trees, finding new sources of revenue and creating a stable transportation funding system.
Each member brought two possible priorities to the session this year and was able to veto the options other councilors proposed, city spokeswoman Jan Bohman said. Getting a central hospital was the only option all councilors supported, she said.
Councilors set specific work priorities yearly, although these are made within the framework of a general vision the city councilors outline every two years.
“We had a goal-setting session last year, but it failed because we didn’t come out with any goals,” Poling said.
He said the diversity of political views on the City Council impeded its progress last year.
Council President Bonny Bettman said by focusing on consensus as opposed to individual goals this year, the councilors were able to come up with a priority they all shared.
“This wasn’t about any city councilor’s personal priorities, it was about what we have consensus on,” she said. “This is a very unique process.”